"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Pyx

This noun is an ecclesiastical one and refers to the box or vessel in which the reserved Eucharist or Host is kept. It is also used for the small watch-shaped container used for carrying the Eucharist to the sick.

A pyx or pyx-chest is also a box or chest at a mint, in which specimen coins are deposited and reserved for trial by weight and assay.

The Trial of the Pyx is the procedure in the United Kingdom for ensuring that newly minted coins conform to required standards. Trials have been held from the twelfth century to the present day, normally once per calendar year; the form of the ceremony has been essentially the same since 1282 AD. They are trials in the full judicial sense, presided over by a judge with an expert jury of assayers. The "Pyx" is the boxwood chest in which coins are placed for presentation to the jury. It can also be spelled pix.

Trials are now held at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths; formerly, they took place at the Palace of Westminster. Given modern production methods, it is unlikely that coins would not conform, but this was a problem in the past. It was tempting for the Master of the Mint to steal precious metals and turn out coins fractionally smaller or lighter than they should have been.

2 comments:

At my church, we have this box which is blessed and then given to those taking Holy Eucharist to the sick. I never thought that it had a name. Pyx. Thank you.Of course, I was not brought up Episcopalian, so even after all these years, I still struggle to remember the correct name of something...so you can't go by me!

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Introduction

My daughter Helen commented in November 2008 in her Blog that she was now keeping a notebook of new words that she came across during her reading. "This week I bought a lovely little leather bound book to write new words in as I read them . I've added a few from "1984", but my favourite has to be persiflage (from the French persifler) which means banter." I later discovered that my older daughter, Bryony, also kept a similar notebook.

This inspired me to create a Word blog. This will include both new words, favourite words and the origins of phrases that we commonly use. A definition and some comment, perhaps even a relevant quotation, will acompany the word or phrase.

“I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.” - Winnie the Pooh

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Thanks for stopping by! Would you like a cup of tea or coffee? And please, sit for a spell. If you enjoy my posts, please feel free to follow me or subscribe to my blog. This is a word verification free, family friendly blog, so everything I share here is for all ages. I am a happily married man in my late sixties who lives on the Wirral peninsula, near Liverpool, in the UK.

I'm a blogger - and nowadays that seems to be my main occupation. Rambles from My Chair is my main blog. I’m a retired local government executive - now studying how to survive a neurological disorder that gives me various problems but, hopefully, a whole new outlook on life and an increased sense of humour and perspective. There is a saying in Sweden "man måste vara frisk för att orka vara sjuk" ~ "you have to be well to cope with being ill"....

I enjoy most forms of communication and postcards are a special favourite. I used to blog as Scriptor Senex which is Latin for Old Writer but now Google only lets me post as John Edwards.

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